Videokymography

Key takeaways

Videokymography belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Videokymography to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Videokymography from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Videokymography is a high-speed medical imaging method to visualize the human vocal fold vibration dynamics. It was invented by Jan G. Švec under the guidance of Harm K. Schutte. A digital technique for high-speed visualization of vibration, called videokymography, was developed and applied to the vocal folds. The system uses a modified video camera able to work in two modes: high-speed (nearly 8,000 images/s) and standard (50 images/s in CCIR norm). In the high-speed mode, the camera selects one active horizontal line (transverse to the glottis) from the whole laryngeal image. The successive line images were presented in real time on a commercial TV monitor, filling each video frame from top to bottom. The system makes it possible to observe left-right asymmetries, open quotient, propagation of mucosal waves, movement of the upper and, in the closing phase, the lower margins of the vocal folds, etc. The technique is suitable for further processing and quantification of recorded vibration.

History Videokymography was developed in 1994 by Czech and Dutch scientists, Jan G. Švec and Harm K. Schutte, in collaboration with the Lambert Instruments company, as a low-cost, high-speed imaging method for examination of vocal fold vibrations. After being developed in the Netherlands, in 1996 it was introduced to clinical practice in Prague by a Czech laryngologist and phoniatrician František Šram in collaboration with J.G. Švec. In 1997, the three founders of videokymography, Švec, Schutte and Šram, made an award-winning scientific video "Introduction to Videokymography" for the World ORL Congress in Sydney. A second generation videokymography camera was developed in the Netherlands in 2006 by Q. Qiu, again under the guidance of H. K. Schutte. Subsequently Q. Qiu and colleagues founded the company Cymo, B.V. producing the videokymography camera along with other medical imaging products and became its director. Videokymography complements another visualization method known as videostroboscopy for early diagnostics of voice disorders and therapy evaluation. It has spread as a clinical and research tool to clinics around the world, and kymographic display was adopted also for digital high-speed videoendoscopy.

Details Accompanied by breath under lung pressure, the glottis and vocal folds move in an open-close motion. During the opening and closing, the process by which the vocal folds meet is referred to as phonation (non-technically called vocalization), which is the general function of how vocal sound is produced. During phonation, vibratory cycles occur all too quickly for the unaided eye to observe. Therefore, if there lies a problem within someone's phonation cycle, it cannot be examined or diagnosed without the aid of technology like videostroboscopy or videokymography. The imaging of vocal fold vibrations is done by inserting an endoscope through the mouth in order to view the vocal folds from the top.

Advantage of Videokymography The process of videokymography offers a particular advantage over methods like videostroboscopy. The process of videostroboscopy has been reported as successful in accuracy, revision, and treatment of diagnoses while its limitations have also been mentioned to involve its reliability on synchronization and inability to produce concrete vibratory cycles. Therefore, examinations of irregular vibratory patterns that may be caused by a vocal disorder are not feasible by videostroboscopy. In this area of examination, videokymography offers an advantage due to its ability to produce vibratory cycles through the use of its high-speed imaging. This makes it an ideal complementary method to videostroboscopy for a patient interested in vocal fold examination or diagnoses.

Future In recent years, there have been studies and experiments conducted to create a new form of visualization developed from videokymography known as depth kymography. Among the scientists whom have implemented these experiments, Dr. Harm Schutte, the Dutch scientist who co-developed videokymography is one of them. Whereas videokymography is a two-dimensional visualization of vocal-fold movement produced by an endoscope that registers only horizontal vocal-fold movement, depth kymography is a three-dimensional visualization produced by a specially designed 3D endoscope that registers movement of the vocal folds in the horizontal and the vertical directions with time being the third dimension. This brings direction and focus to the development of another detailed and analytical form of vocal fold visualization that is potentially an evolution of videokymography.

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Videokymography

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Videokymography claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Videokymography before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Videokymography ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Videokymography

In research: Videokymography appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Videokymography in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Videokymography is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Medical imaging, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Videokymography outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Videokymography in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Videokymography means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Videokymography out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Videokymography in simple terms?

Videokymography is a high-speed medical imaging method to visualize the human vocal fold vibration dynamics. It was invented by Jan G. Švec under the guidance of Harm K.

Why does Videokymography matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Videokymography?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Videokymography.